DAVIE–Few players in recent NFL history have been criticized for their on-field demeanor and body language as much as Jay Cutler, and Dolphins fans are getting a firsthand look at it this season.

They noticed, certainly, that Cutler got animated with a fist pump after Jarvis Landry made a big play during the 20-17 win over Atlanta last week. It doesn’t happen often, and he says that’s by design.

“It’s not the first time,” he said. “I try to stay as calm as possible for these guys, but there are going to be points throughout the season where you go the opposite way.”

It was a breakout game all around. The Dolphins set a season high in points (20) and put up their most yards (289) and first downs (20) since the opener. Jay Ajayi rushed for a season-best 130 yards on 26 attempts.

Cutler got off to a rough start, but pulled it together in the second half to reach his highest passer rating since the opener at 76.7. Despite still having some issues with dropped passes, he completed 19 of 33 passes for 151 yards and two touchdowns against one interception. The Dolphins scored on all four of their second-half possessions.

While Cutler had a rare outburst of emotion in the middle of that, his overarching philosophy is to keep the team steady by staying level emotionally.

“I think as you get older you just kind of see things a little bit differently,” he said. “You experience a lot that this league has to offer. The highs aren’t as high, and the lows probably aren’t as low. You’ve just got to try to stay even and realize that it’s a long season, and you’re going to hit a lot of speed bumps along the way.”